WE'VE COME ON A BUNDLE

ANYONE who has suffered through the re-run of Euro 96 on ITV must concede that nostalgia doesn’t bear close scrutiny.

- CHRIS DUNLAVY

That cherished memories, like childhood toys, are best left shrouded in a golden haze, not dragged from the loft and dusted off.

Our collective conscious remembers an England team of swaggering leaders, goals galore, and a manager in Terry Venables whose departure set the country back a decade.

Elements of that are certainly true. Yes, we were crap against Switzerland. Lucky to draw with Spain. But for Uri Geller’s penalty-spot voodoo, Scotland might have snatched an equaliser and Gazza’s famous goal would never have happened.

Our opinion of that team – and its performance – has been distilled from one blinding half against the Dutch.

Much the same can be said for the rest of the tournament. Moments of brilliance, like Davor Suker’s destruction of Denmark and Karel Poborsky’s glorious chip, left the impression of a football fiesta.

But that was only because we forgot the other two weeks of mediocre dross, culminating in the lowest-scoring knockout stage of any World Cup or European Championships in history.

Football came home alright, but it kicked its shoes off at the front door and fell asleep on the sofa.

Sport has a tendency to romanticise the past; to elevate the great players of yesteryear above contemporary heroes, lament the loss of characters and disparage modern sensibilities as decadent or soft.